The Wedding
by bookworm1429
Summary: When Zuko is invited to stay with Sokka and Suki for two weeks before their wedding he gladly accepts thinking it would be a nice vacation from being Fire Lord. He never expected to fall for Suki's free-spirited little sister. Zuko/OC
1. The Invitation

**Hey everybody. This is my first fanfiction in years (and I mean years). I hope you enjoy the first chapter, and the second should be out soon. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender, but trust me if there was a way I could it would already have been accomplished. **

The Invitation

"What are you staring at Prince Zuko?" Uncle asked, giving me a strange look. Five years had passed since the end of the war and I had taken the throne, but Uncle was still not used to my new title, and I had a feeling that he never would be. "You've been looking at the same piece of paper for five minutes now."

I finally broke my gaze from the paper in my hand, and gave Uncle an unsure smile. "It's not just a piece of paper, Uncle. It's a letter from Sokka. He's invited me to his wedding, to Suki." I tossed the letter on the table, cluttered with our dinner and many other papers I was supposed to look over in regards to the Fire Nation (The work day was never completely over for me), and shook my head in complete disbelief. "Sokka getting married?"

This last part I mumbled to myself, not believing that one of my best friends could be moving on to such an adult thing as marriage. It seemed like just yesterday we (Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Toph and I) had all been teenagers, taking rides on Appa, and just leaving for the day to return at midnight all exhausted but as happy as could be. Over the past two years these trips had become less frequent, all of us having more pressing duties than having a simple picnic. My responsibilities as Fire Lord had grown immensely, and of course Aang had his own Avatar duties to attend which meant Katara, as loyal to him as ever, was tagging along. Toph had, amazingly, opened her own Earthbending school, and was now teaching many young Earthbenders her metalbending secret. Sokka and Suki were hard at work restoring the South Pole, and apparently moving from the simple crush both shared for each other at the end of the war to falling in love.

"That's wonderful," Uncle said enthusiastically, and took a long drink from his ginseng tea. For all the changes that had taken place, Uncle still loved his tea. "That Suki was always such a nice girl. I'm sure she will bring Sokka much happiness."

"Yeah," I replied not sure what else to say. I still could not wrap my mind around this. Gathering my composure, I continued, "He's asked me to be a groomsman along with Aang." This made me chuckle. I had only attended a handful weddings in my life, though I had never been involved in any, and all of them Fire Nation. I didn't know the first thing about Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe traditions when it came to weddings. Hopefully I wouldn't be forced to wear anything too ridiculous. "He wants me to come and stay with him and Suki at their home on Kyoshi until the wedding. It's in two weeks."

"Well, Zuko, if you ask me, I would say that you deserve a vacation." Uncle smiled, and set his cup of tea on the table. "You have been so busy lately with the celebration for the fifth year of peace, and everything else that comes along with your title. Two weeks at Kyoshi would be good for you." He stood up from the table, and left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the decision that I had to make.

I stood also, having finished my meal, and began to walk to my chambers. The servants who were constantly hovering around quickly began to clear mine and Uncle's meal. Two weeks of vacation did sound appealing, and I knew that Uncle was more than capable of filling in for me if I wanted to leave, but something was stopping me for wanting to just pack up and leave.

Suddenly it hit me. I hadn't left the Fire Nation in almost six months, and within this time I had rarely even left the palace grounds. The last time I had been out of the Fire Nation was for a conference in Ba Sing Se to meet with Aang and all of the other leaders of the Nations. It was a simple meeting receiving an update on all of the Nations, and had only lasted an afternoon. I had visited with Aang and Katara for a day or two afterwards, and had dropped in to see Toph and her new school, but other than that I had only written and received a few letters from my old friends. This trip would involve much catching up, and some part of me doubted that I would be up for it. Being the Fire Lord doesn't leave much room for socializing; I was slightly out of practice. However, a break from the constant pressure of being proper all the time was the more attractive option than missing Sokka's wedding just because I was too afraid of having to small talk with my friends.

Changing my path from my chambers to the aviary, where the messenger hawks were kept, to reply to Sokka's letter my feelings of apprehension quickly were replaced with excited anticipation, as I wrote my reply.

Sokka,

I would be more than happy to stay at your home, and to have the honor of being in your wedding. I should hopefully arrive in two days, and I am looking forward to seeing you and everyone else again. It has been much to long since my last visit.

Your friend,

Zuko

I choose a hawk that looked to be well-rested, and as soon as I saw him disappear over the horizon I quickly left to pack. I had a few other arrangements to make, and hopefully I would be ready to set sail for Kyoshi Island at dawn.

**Author's Note: The next chapter will be in the POV of Suki's younger sister, Nadee. She's an original, and I hope you guys like her.**


	2. The Arrival

**Second Chapter posted. -cheers- This chapter was fun to write. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. Don't forget to review!**

**Disclaimer: All this Avatar stuff doesn't belong to me, I'm just creatively borrowing it. I have no intentions of giving it back, but that's beside the point. **

The Arrival

"Suki! I've been cleaning for three hours now. Can't I please be done?" I whined to my big sister. I was currently dusting the shelves that held the souvenirs Sokka and Suki had collected from their big Avatar adventure, despite the fact that I had just cleaned them yesterday. I swear, everyday closer to Suki's wedding the more crazy my normally level-headed sister seemed to get. And to think, I still had two more weeks before the big day. I think it was safe to say I might die. I heard Sokka's laughter, at my pain, from the kitchen, and I silently seethed on the inside. I still didn't understand how he got away with not doing chores. I'd have to remember to ask Katara how to get him to do what I want.

"Fine!" Suki snapped, "I'm so sick of you complaining anyways. I mean, it's not like you live with me and Sokka for free or anything, and this is the first big thing I've ever asked of you…"

Heaving a sigh, I blocked my sister's rant out, and kept dusting. I hated when she pulled the guilt trip on me. I've offered to pay rent, but I only worked at a local tea shop, The Steaming Cup, for a few hours every week, and by the end of the week I barely had two copper coins to rub together. Bending down to dust a lower shelf, I must have missed this one yesterday, I stirred up a cloud of dust and went into a coughing fit.

"That's it!," I heard my sister yell. "I can't believe you would be so petty to fake chocking to get out of work. Get out now!"

Still sputtering and eyes streaming tears I tried to explain I wasn't faking, but Suki apparently had crossed over to the crazy side. She practically pushed me outside, and slammed to the door behind me. When my lungs finally stopped having a dust induced seizure, I tried to pull the door open, but Suki had locked me out. I pounded on the door, until she finally opened it.

"What?" Her eyes were narrowed dangerously, and, instinctively, I took a step back. I had seen this look in my sister's eyes before, and I knew I was in for it. "Have another complaint you would like to file?" Sokka was in the background making the crazy sign, and mouthing what appeared to be run away.

I opened my mouth to retort back, but realized that fighting would just piss her off more. I lowered my eyes and started to kick the ground like the guilty kid I was. She was only a year older than me, but she somehow made it seem like I was always just a child "Is there anything you want me to do?" I tried my best to look sorry, and when I gazed up at my sister I could tell I had won her over just a little bit.

"Yeah actually," she said and I knew that she had a plan to keep me out of her hair, "Our old friend Zuko should be arriving in a little bit, so I want you to go wait at the harbor until he shows up. He hasn't been to our house before, and you need to show him back here."

"Well, what does this guy look like?" I asked. I've heard of Zuko before, after all he was the Fire Lord, but I'd never personally met him. He couldn't exactly stop by like Aang and Katara did. It must be really be nice to have a sky bison. Plus, he was always busy running a whole nation, but whatever.

"He's tall and has black hair. I dunno, Nadee you'll figure it out. After all he'll be the only person there in fire nation robes." Then, without another word, she slammed to door closed, and I knew that I wasn't gonna be let back in until I had the Fire Lord with me.

Grumbling to myself, I slowly made my way to the harbor, slightly peeved that I was locked outside of my home. For the tenth time this day I had to remind myself that I loved my sister, and as soon as this wedding was over life would be back to normal. But still, locked out; it was a low move. It took about five minutes to reach the harbor, and I made my way to the end of the dock. A few people milled around, though none seemed to be the one I was searching for. I asked around in case anyone had seen a Fire Nation ship, but no one had seen one. Giving up, I walked back to the market to just take a look around. I couldn't exactly buy anything considering that all of my money was back in my room.

"Excuse me, do you happen to know where Sokka and Suki live?" A voice from behind me asked. I spun around, excited that my charge had made my job easy and found me.

"Oh, you must be Zu-"I stopped mid-sentence,, and stared in silence at his face, unable to tear my eyes away. One half was completely normal, handsome even, but the other half was the reason I lost my words. His whole left eye was covered in a deep red scar. I shook my head to recover, and flashed him a smile, hoping that he wouldn't be put of my ogling. "Zuko. Right. Well, umm, I'm Suki's sister. She sent me to come get you. My name's Nadee by the way."

"Nice to meet, Nadee" he said formally. He ran a hand through his shaggy black hair, a hairstyle I never would have though the Fire Lord would have, and looked at me curiously. He only had a simple bag slung over his shoulder, and my sister was right, he was wearing Fire Nation robes. I was still staring at this point, and couldn't seem to get my eyes to move on from his scar. "So… are you going to show me?" He gave me a look that pretty much said he thought I was slow, and I couldn't exactly blame him.

"Oh right, to the house!" I spun around quickly, mostly to hide my embarrassment at my inability to keep getting distracted by his scar, but also I because me and Suki had a score to settle.

I lead him in complete silence, winding my way through the familiar neighbor hood until we finally reached the house. I pounded on the door, and I looked back at him sheepishly. "Suki and me are currently fighting. She kinda locked me out till I brought you here," I tried to explain, but saying it out loud made the two of us sound sort of immature.

"Don't worry about it," he reassured me, "I know quite a bit about sibling fights."

The door opened slowly, and Sokka was the one who answered it. Both guys looked happy to see each other, and they did that weird guy hug where they only clap each other on the back for like two seconds. "Good to see you, Zuko," Sokka said smiling that big goofy smile of his.

"It's been too long," Zuko replied and together they stepped into the house. I followed them in, and made a dash to the kitchen before I could be dragged into any conversations. Suki jumped up from where she had been resting by the table, and rushed out to greet Zuko. I peered out into the main room, and saw Suki give Zuko a big hug. The three of them were soon laughing, and acting like they hadn't not seen each other in a year. I took as seat at the table and waited for my sister to come in. Finally, Sokka lead Zuko upstairs to one of the guest rooms, and Suki made her way back to the kitchen.

"What the heck is the matter with you!" I yelled, finally having my sister alone. I jumped up and pointed at her accusingly. She owed me a huge explanation "Tall with black hair! That's the best description you could give me? I just made an ass out of my self, and it could've all have been prevented if you had just told me!"

"Calm down Nadee." Suki said. She took a seat at the table and I flopped down angrily next to her. "What are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about?" I snorted in disbelief. How was she not getting it? "How about the fact that he has a giant scar on his face? I mean, he's missing an eyebrow for the Avatar's sake!"

"I would really rather you not use my title in vain," a familiar voice from the living sounded. Aang and Katara strode into the kitchen, both giggling at my freak-out. I didn't bother to even reply, and just laid my head on the table. This was going to be a long two weeks.

**Author's Note: Poor, poor Nadee. The GAang's almost all back together, and she's caught in the middle of it. Oh well, it's more fun for us that way. -snickers- Next chapter should be up in a few days, and until then read and review please!**


	3. The Reunion

**Ta-da! Chapter Three is complete and way longer than I thought it was going to be. We're back to Zuko's POV, and he's ready to catch up with his friends… maybe. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender… though I certainly wish I did. **

The Reunion

My trip to Kyoshi was easy and relaxing, and I knew I had made the right choice by going to the wedding. Uncle was right, as usual. I had needed a vacation. It was surprisingly peaceful being back at sea, and I felt a sense of security surrounded by the water. After all I had spent almost three years on a boat after my banishment.

Arriving on Kyoshi was a whole different matter. As soon as I stepped foot on the island, I felt guilty. All of the rest and relaxation I had gained from my trip quickly turned to tension. I recognized some of the shops that I had scorched on my last visit, and I knew I was being paranoid, but I felt accusing eyes all over me. However, I was a different person back then, and I hoped that if the Avatar himself was able to forgive me for my past actions, hopefully the people of Kyoshi would as well.

I made it to Sokka and Suki's house with the help of Nadee, though she did seem to be slightly bashful. She resembled Suki immensely, and I'm quite surprised that I didn't realize they were sister's right away. The only noticeable difference between the two sisters was that Nadee's eyes were an emerald green where Suki's were a light brown. There were a few other small details; Nadee had a light dusting of freckles and she wore her reddish brown hair longer and pulled back, but other than that they looked very similar. I wasn't exactly sure why Nadee seemed to be uncomfortable around me, but my skills with the opposite sex were not to be desired. Sokka had always been the stud of our group. Mai was the only long-term girl friend I had ever managed to have, and that hadn't exactly ended on good terms.

"So, this is your room," Sokka said gesturing around to a fairly bare guest room. Two beds were in the room, along with a dresser and a mirror. "You'll have to share with Aang. Nadee's sharing with Katara and Toph, so you guys have the better deal." The two of us were now upstairs while Suki had gone to start lunch, and wait for the rest of our group to arrive. Aang and Katara had agreed to pick Toph up on their way here.

"This will be fine Sokka," I said gratefully. I tossed my bag on the bed on the left, and stretched. I was tired from my trip here, but it wasn't a bad feeling. "Suki seems to be happy."

"Oh yeah," Sokka said smiling, "She really excited for the wedding. Her parents haven't been back to Kyoshi in over three years. They only came back to bring Nadee here to live with us. Suki wants everything to be perfect. Honestly, she's kinda gone a little crazy with all the wedding stuff. She's been driving Nadee insane. Those two have been at each other's throats for over a week now."

"Nadee did mention that they were fighting today," I recalled. After all, that was one of the few things Nadee had said to me.

Sokka just laughed and nodded. "Oh yeah, it's a good thing that you're here now. I'm sure that will distract those two for at least a little while. Now c'mon. I think I can smell some pig-chicken."

Now it was my turn to laugh. Sokka still apparently loved to eat. We made our way back downstairs, and almost ran into Toph at the bottom of the stairs. She looked a little green, and seemed dizzy.

"Hey there Sokka. Zuko." She said in a slightly woozy voice I wasn't used to hearing from Toph. "I guess I forgot how much I didn't like riding that big fuzz ball. Air travel is not the way to go." She lightly punched me in the arm, and made her way slowly into the kitchen.

Sokka and I followed her in, and saw Aang and Katara already seated at the table. Momo was sitting on Aang's shoulder, nibbling on a sweet biscuit, and chirped at us when we entered the kitchen. I took a seat, and grabbed a biscuit, not realizing how hungry I was until I had my first bite. For the next hour we all talked about the latest news in our lives, and of course Katara and Suki dominated the conversation with details of the wedding. Nadee was no where in sight, but I didn't give it much thought. After all, she wasn't exactly a member of our group. Eventually, the conversation turned from recent events to reminiscing about old times before the war was over.

"I still remember the one time where Sokka was hallucinating off that cactus juice he drank," Katara said laughing. Sokka gave her a dirty look, but I could tell he didn't mean it. We all laughed, though Suki and I technically didn't remember it, but both of us had heard the story.

"That was a good one," Aang agreed. "Momo was crazy that day too." Momo cooed in agreement, and that just made us all laugh harder.

"How about the first time I met you guys?" Suki poked Sokka in the stomach playfully. "You thought you had been beaten by a guy, but it was just me."

"Yeah, yeah. I know better now though," Sokka consented, though he did look a little embarrassed. "I seem to remember you threatening to feed me to the Unagi."

"I've never heard that story before Snoozle," Toph remarked. "I can just hear you now. How about you, Zuko? I'm sure your lovely people skills made for an interesting story with first meeting Suki."

Ashamed, I looked down at the table, not wanting to think about my last visit here. Suki reached out and lightly touched my arm, letting me know I was forgiven; it was a nice gesture, but not enough to appease my guilt. "It's not the greatest story Toph," I whispered.

"I'd say," Sokka said completely oblivious to the fact that I was uncomfortable with talking about it. "Burning down buildings is never a good way to meet anyone."

"Sokka!" Katara scolded in that motherly tone of hers. "Can't you see this is upsetting Zuko?"

"Sorry I asked," Toph said taking bite of an apple. "Now forget I said anything, and go back to happy memories. You're all starting to bum me out."

"Actually, I'm gonna take a step outside." I stood suddenly, not wanting to take part in any more reminiscing. Before anyone could stop me I pulled open the back door, and headed outside. Inside I could hear Sokka being reprimanded by Katara, but it was unnecessary. Sooner or later the fact that I had almost destroyed this island was going to come up, but I was just hoping for it to be later. I felt a little better once I was alone, but my solitary status didn't exactly last long. My friends knew me well enough to not follow me, but Nadee, however, had already taken refuge under a tree in the backyard. She was leaned back against the trunk, with her knee pulled up close to her chest. A sketch book was resting on her knees, and she didn't even look up when I had let the door slam behind me. "What are you doing out here?" I asked surprised. I had though that she had been in her room the whole time that we had been in the kitchen.

Startled, Nadee looked up, and when she saw me, she blushed a deep red. "Oh…nothing. You know, just breathing in air not tainted with nostalgia," She smiled up at me, snapped the sketch book shut, and quickly shoved it behind her. "How bout you?"

I laughed at her answer and sat down across from her. "Pretty much the same thing. " I admitted truthfully. We sat in silence for a few seconds, until I just had to say something. "So… what are you drawing?"

"Nothing I let others see." Her green eyes stared me down, and I instantly became curious.

"Really? Not anyone?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"Not anyone." She repeated. Now it was my turn to stare her down, and she didn't balk at all. I had a sudden feeling that I was matched with an opponent that was just as stubborn as me. It was sort of unsettling.

"Just a quick peek," I said, trying to compromise, not quite sure why I so badly wanted to see her sketch book. Then again I wasn't exactly sure why I was still outside talking to a girl I hardly knew instead of spending time with my best friends that I barely ever saw.

Sighing, she reached behind her, and handed me the book. "Only because I'm sorry I was rude earlier."

"Rude?" I was confused. I remember her being quiet, but I had figured that she was a shy individual, not rude.

"Yeah, you know, I was kinda staring earlier," Nadee blushed again, and started to fiddle nervously with the hem of her dress. "I didn't mean to, but my sister didn't tell me, and I totally wasn't expecting for you to have a… well you know." She gestured at my face, and then looked down at her lap. "A scar."

"Oh," I didn't know what else to say. I guess I was so used to people staring that I barely noticed anymore, and I was touched that Nadee was kind enough to apologize for it. "That's very kind of you, but your apology is unnecessary. Still, I'm going to look."

Before she could protest I flipped open to the first page, and was shocked. Inside was a beautiful charcoal portrait of Suki in her full Kyoshi Warrior make-up. Every detail about her was correct. I flipped to the next page, and saw another portrait, though this one was of Aang. Again, I was amazed at how accurate the picture was; she had managed to not only capture he appearance on the paper, but his whole personality as well. You could see that he was about to smile, and his eyes were filled with mischief.

"These are incredible," I said truthfully, still turning through the pages, each one holding the portrait of someone. I saw one of Sokka and Katara, and even Momo and Appa graced a page in the book. There were many people I didn't recognize, but I'm sure they were all accurately portrayed.

"Thanks," she said shyly. "I've never let anyone see them before. But don't go any farther." She quickly tried to snatch the book back, but I held it out of her reach.

"I'm almost done." I was down to the last few pages, and wanted to see all of them.

"No, I'd really rather have it back. Now." She reached for it again, but I stood up, and walked backwards a few steps. She jumped up, but I kept back up, flipping pages the whole while.

"Just let me finish," I pleaded. I had just passed a stunning picture of Sokka and Suki together, and you could almost feel the love they shared for each other on the page. I wasn't ready to give up the beautiful renditions of my friends just yet. Turning over the last page, I was once again shocked. Staring back at me was myself. It took me a second to comprehend who I was looking at, but then it became painfully obvious. It was a close up of my face, my eyes narrowed, and my brow creased. I held no hint of a smile, and my face was angled so that my side with my scar was showing. My first thought was how unhappy I looked in my picture, and that wasn't a good feeling. I stared at myself for a few more seconds before shoving the book back into her hands. I sat back down on the ground, slightly taken aback to find myself among the pages of Nadee's book. I wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"See, this is why I never wanted to show anyone before," Nadee explained. "I was always afraid people wouldn't like to see themselves."

"It isn't that," I sighed. "It's just that your drawings, all of them hold so much truth, and I wasn't prepared to see myself through someone else's eyes. Other than that all of your drawing were truly astonishing"

"Oh…" she said. She sat back down next to me, and nudged my shoulder with hers. "Just so you know, I wasn't finished with yours. You have so much depth around you that I thought you would be a challenge to draw."

"What you call depth, others would just call pain," I stated bluntly, not in the mood to be cheered up. "And you managed to capture mine very well."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Nadee replied. "I'm sorta glad that I showed you, however your missing the point of you portrait. Where you only see pain, I see hope as well. I don't know much about you Zuko, other than the few stories Suki and the others have shared with me over the years, but I can tell that if you are full of one thing, I would say hope before pain."

I turned to face her, and smiled. "That means a lot to me, Nadee. Thank you."

"No problem," She said cheerfully. "Now I have to go to work in an hour or so, but how about tomorrow, I'll show you around Kyoshi. Maybe we can go swimming?"

"Swimming?" I gave her a dubious look. "What about the Unagi?"

Nadee snorted, and waved her hand dismissively. "You only have to worry about that thing if you go out too deep. If we stick to the shallows we'll be fine."

"Alright then." I stood up slowly, and glanced back at the house. I knew my friends were probably wondering why I hadn't come back yet, and I knew I should go back inside. "I will see you tomorrow then. Unless of course, my friends have something planned."

Turning back toward the house, I felt more at ease with my past on Kyoshi. Maybe Nadee was right, and there was more hope inside of me than I realized.

**Wow, this chapter isn't exactly what I expected it to be, but I feel that it should be a good starting point for some Zuko/Nadee romance. Please review and let me know how it was! Thanks for reading. **


	4. The Confession

**Chapter 4 is here, and it's Nadee's turn to tell it how it is… or at least tell it how she thinks it is. Thanks to everybody who reviewed. It's always exciting to find out that other people beside myself actually enjoy reading this. Anyways… on to the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA, but I have no problem with just borrowing the characters.**

When my shift was over at The Steaming Cup, the sky was an inky black and dotted with stars, and I was exhausted. Kyoshi Island is a fairly large pit stop for many traders, who aren't exactly know for their charming personalities. One particularly angry customer had "accidentally" spilled his cup of tea on me, and then had the audacity to ask for a full refund. These were the days that I hated my job.

By the time I reached my house all I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and sleep. Luckily, everyone seemed to be asleep when I finally got home. All the lights were off, and I could here Sokka snoring from his and Suki's bedroom. I still don't know how she could put up with that. I padded my way lightly up stairs, and quietly slid open the door to my bedroom. I was in the middle of taking off my now stained dress when I remembered that I was currently sharing a room with two other people. Well, only one that counted considering that Toph couldn't see me, but still I wanted to be modest. I grabbed my night dress, and slowly made my way to the bathroom down the hall, not wanting to risk waking Katara and Toph up. I got ready for bed as speedily as I could, and yawning I finally went to go lay down. Unfortunately, Katara and Toph were waiting to ambush me. Apparently, they weren't as asleep as I had thought.

"What did you say to Zuko today?" Katara asked, getting right to the point. Each had a cot on the floor, and I had to squeeze by them to get to my bed. Katara had her arms crossed, and her blue eyes narrowed.

"Umm… several things, but none that were really important," I answered, slightly confused as to why I was being interrogated this late at night. "And hello to you too, by the way."

"Well, you must of said something that stuck with him," Toph said as she picked at her toes. Katara swatted at her to stop, and sighing Toph leaned back against her pillows. "He was all smiley when he came back in after talking with you. It was weird."

Katara nodded in agreement. "She's right. I don't think I've seen him that happy since we won the war. Are you sure you didn't say something that could've made him all… glowy?"

"Glowy? Can't said I did. Plus, I don't see why this is any of your business." I was beginning to feel uncomfortable with their questions. "All we did was talk for a little bit." I didn't want to exactly admit to my earlier embarrassment at my attempt to apologize to Zuko, or share the fact that I'd been secretly drawing all of my friends for over two years now. That part I defiantly wanted to keep undercover.

"Fine, keep it to yourself," Katara said plopping back down on her cot. "But just so you know, we're coming to the beach with you two tomorrow."

"Sounds splendid," I said sleepily, not really caring. The beach was the beach, and the more the merrier in my opinion. Beside, I had only really offered to show Zuko around was because I felt bad for upsetting him. Not because I thought he was incredibly handsome or anything. No, that was just an added bonus. I reached over to blow out the candle, and the room went completely dark. I flopped down into my pillows and blankets, and was almost instantly asleep.

"Wake up already." The next thing I knew I was being hit in the face with a pillow. I cracked open my eyes, and saw Toph standing over me, grinning wickedly. "It's beach time."

I moaned loudly, and just rolled over, pulling my pillow over my head. "Go away."

"Not a chance," Toph said laughing. "This was your idea in the first place. Breakfast is ready when you join the living."

I waited until I heard the door slid shut before crawling out from my covers. I stumbled over to my closet, and pulled out my bathing suit. Eyes still half closed, I got dressed, and then stumbled downstairs.

"Nadee, you're alive," Sokka joked when I came into the kitchen. Everyone was sitting around the table already dressed for the beach.

"Haha, I faked laughed, "You're a comic genius." I grabbed an apple, and plunked myself on a cushion next to Zuko. I offered up a small smile, and surprisingly it was him who blushed instead of me. I glanced at Katara, who quickly looked away, and I suddenly had a suspicion that she meddled. Big surprised there. "So explain to me why we're up so early?"

"More like you're up late," Aang said, pointing at the window, with noon sunlight streaming in. "We got bored waiting for you to finally wake up."

"So you sent Toph to come get me?" I narrowed my eyes are Toph even though it was pointless. It still made me feel better.

"Yup," Suki came into the kitchen, practically beaming at my discomfort, her arms full of beach towels. I did the mature thing, and stuck my tongue out at her in retaliation. She just rolled her eyes. Sisters. "We figured she'd be the most efficient person to wake you up."

"Good choice," I grumbled. I took a bite of my apple, and didn't say anything till Suki ushered us out the door, and we made our way to the beach.

"So are you a Kyoshi Warrior, Nadee?" Zuko asked, trying to stir up a conversation.

We were sitting next to each other at the beach, while the others were busy doing their thing. Katara was giving Appa a bath, Toph and Aang were playing some game involving lots of sand and fancy bending moves, and Sokka and Suki were busy being all lovey-dovey a few feet away. I had a nagging suspicion that Katara had conveniently arranged for us to be by ourselves, and I wasn't complaining. Sometimes her interference wasn't so bad.

"Oh no," I answered quickly, and laughed slightly. "I kinda failed training." I started to trace random shapes in the sand, not wanting to see his reaction.

"Fail training?" Zuko repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, every girl on the island begins warrior training when they turn eight, and when they're ten they take this exam thing to see if they're warrior material," I explained, trying to be as brief as possible. This was a bit of a sore subject for me. "And I failed it. The end."

"Now that can't be the whole story," Zuko probed, wanting me to elaborate.

I sighed dramatically, contemplating whether or not to divulge the whole story. Like I said, I didn't like to talk about it. "Fine, fine. I'll tell you," I started somewhat begrudgingly. "This test thing, it's kinda a really big deal. On your tenth birthday you're put in front of the whole island to perform all you've learned. To be honest, I never really wanted to be a Kyoshi Warrior, so I wasn't exactly the best student. I was always distracted or skipping class. When it came time for my exam, I was ill prepared to say the least. To pass you have to defeat one of the warriors, or at least show a valiant effort. I got my butt handed to me, in front of everyone." I hide my face in my knees, my entire face blushing a deep red just thinking back to that day.

"Well, that doesn't sound so bad," Zuko said sympathetically. His slightly pathetic attempt to make me feel better didn't work.

"No, it was pretty bad." I glanced back up at him, and smirked. "No women in my family had every failed before. Suki was already in her full training to become a warrior, and my mom was a retired leader of the girls, and she had taken over from her mother. She was so embarrassed by my failure that she moved me, my father, and my older brother Ben Ji to Omashu. They all still live there, and my brother works the mail chutes. He's a pretty talented Earthbender, so that makes up for the fact that he wasn't born a girl. However, my mother still considers me an embarrassment to the family, so we haven't exactly been on good terms. I moved back to Kyoshi three years ago to live with Suki when it got really bad. We couldn't be in the same room with each other without screaming."

"Sounds like a lot of family drama," Zuko agreed, nodding knowingly. "And trust me, I'm an expert at family drama."

"Oh really?" I asked raising my eyebrows. "What's exactly wrong with your family?"

He just laughed, and shook his head. "That is a story for another day."

"So I share my story, and I don't even get to here any of yours?" I asked. That didn't exactly sound fair. "You must not get that I don't talk about my parents. Ever."

"Me either," Zuko flashed me a wickedly evil smile. "And I don't think that I'm going to start today."

I smiled back, and stood up, brushing sand off my legs. Telling my story had gotten me all agitated, and I couldn't sit still anymore. "Fine. But I'm gonna hear your story before you leave."

"Consider it a promise. Now I do remember that you offered to take me swimming yesterday, so care to join me?" Zuko teased, standing up as well. He gestured toward the ocean, and I couldn't help but laugh at his faux formality.

I curtsied deeply, and smiled up at him. "I'd be delighted." I winked before taking off at a sprint. "Race you!"

**Another chapter complete! I'd love to hear some feed back, so any reviews welcome. Thanks for reading! **


	5. The Unwanted Advice

**Chapter 5! -cheers- This fic is coming along a lot better than I ever thought. Thank you for all of the reviews! I love reading them; they just give me such a warm fuzzy feeling inside. In this chapter we will join Zuko as the Gaang tries to convince him that Nadee might just be the girl for him. Enjoy!**

The Unwanted Advice

The rest of the day at the beach was the most fun I had had in a very long time. The water was freezing, but then again I was used to the warm tropical waters of the Fire Nation. However, Nadee no pity on me, and forced me into swimming until we were both shivering. The rest of the afternoon we stayed out of the water, not wanting to brave the icy sea again. Instead, we relaxed on the beach, ate some of the snacks Katara and Suki had packed, and talked. Nadee told me about growing up on Kyoshi, and I entertained her with stories about palace life. She didn't bother with questions about my family, and for that I was glad. By then end of the day, I felt that I had really gotten to know her well. There was just something about her that made me feel relaxed and calm, feelings that were foreign to me. It was strange because normally strangers have the opposite effect; they tend to make me feel awkward and nervous. I think it was her smile that made me feel so at ease. It was always there, a simple and warm reminder that life was something to be happy about. All in all, it was one of the best days I'd had since taking the throne.

"So today was awesome, huh Zuko?" Aang asked as we both relaxed in our room. It was well past dark, and everyone else was probably getting ready for bed themselves. Momo was curled up at the end of Aang's bed, snoring softly. Apparently, the day at the beach was exhausting for him as well as us.

"It was pretty awesome," I agreed, smiling to myself. Images of Nadee popped into my head, and it made me smile even more.

"What's up with you?" Aang questioned with an inquiring look in his eyes. "You're never this happy."

"Nothing," I lied. I didn't want my friends to know how I felt about Nadee just yet, when I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about her. There was something about her that made me want to spend every minute with her, but I knew that once this vacation was over, I would have to go back to the Fire Nation. Back to being busy every minute of the day, and not having a moment to just be myself. "It's nothing."

"Nothing huh?" Aang wasn't happy with my answer, and I had a feeling that he was going to try and get to the truth. "It wouldn't have anything to do with Nadee?"

"Nadee? No. Why would you ask that?" Inside, I silently cursed Aang's perceptive abilities. It had to be an Avatar thing. Or Katara was putting him up to this. It might have been that too.

"Well, it just seemed that you two like each other, that's all." He sounded innocent enough, but I still didn't feel like telling him the truth.

"Like each other? We only just met." I tried to sound like the whole idea was preposterous, but it came out more panicked than I would have liked.

"I knew I liked Katara within seconds after I was unfrozen from the iceberg, and look at us now," he said, a dreamy smile on his face. "Just something to think about. Night Zuko." He sent a breeze of air at the candle, and the room went dark.

"Yeah. Good night." I rolled over in my bed, and closed me eyes. Aang had a very good point, but I still wasn't sure what to think of Nadee just yet. I knew there was something about her, but I wasn't exactly sure what it was yet. With these thoughts rolling around in my head, I fell asleep.

"Morning Sparky," Toph said cheerfully as I walked into the kitchen rubbing my eyes sleepily. I yawned, and waved in reply, not feeling ready to say anything else yet. Despite the exhausting day at the beach, Aang and mine's conversation last night didn't give me the best night sleep. "What's eating you?"

"Huh?" I asked confused, and then realized it must have seemed that I had completely ignored Toph by not saying anything. "Oh nothing."

"You might be able to get away with lying to Twinkletoes and Sugar Queen, but I can tell something is up," Toph said, using that annoying ability of hers. It seemed like everyone was able to figure me out these days. "Spill it."

I sighed, and took a seat at the table empty table. "Where is everyone?" I asked casually, trying to change the subject.

"Nadee wanted to go on a ride on Appa, so they all left before you even woke up. I wasn't up for another trip on the fuzz ball so soon, so I stayed behind," Toph picked up a piece of bread and bite into it. "But we were talking. I said spill it."

"Fine. I'm not sure how I feel about Nadee yet," I said trying to keep my answer short and truthful. I didn't' need Toph on my case about lying.

"What's wrong with her?" Toph asked apparently confused at my wording. "She's really fun."

"No not like that," I sighed again, and looked out the window. The sun was bright again today, and a soft breeze was making the tree branches twist around. How could it look so tranquil outside, when I felt so attacked in here? "She's the reason I'm enjoying this vacation so much." I nervously glanced around the kitchen, afraid this was some kind of a trap.

"And another one of the group falls for a Kyoshi Island girl," Toph laughed and fell back into the cushions around the table. "This is just too good."

"It's not that funny," I said defensively. "And I haven't fallen for her. It's more along the lines of I like spending time with her."

"Whatever you say," Toph said sitting up, but a wicked smile still on her face. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Do about it? There's nothing to do about," I said in a spiteful tone. "I'm the Fire Lord. I don't have time for dating."

"Just keep telling yourself that." Toph stood up from the table, stretching. "I'll catch you later. I'm going back to bed."

"Bye." I rose from the table as well, and headed out the door. Maybe a walk would clear my head.

I didn't exactly know where I was headed, but Kyoshi wasn't exactly the biggest island ever, so I figured I wouldn't get to lost. I had only gone down the block, when I spotted Sokka and Suki buying some food from a market stall. I began to walk toward them, hoping that I wouldn't be harassed by them as well.

"But I hate mangos," I heard Sokka complain, but Suki put them in her basket anyways.

"Why don't you just go pick out the meat?" Suki suggested, as she reached for a papaya. She looked up, spotting me, and waved me over. "Hey Zuko. What's up with you?" She sounded causal, but her eyes held questions that I knew she was dying to ask. Not again.

"Nothing," I answered for the third time today.

"Great. You can go with Sokka down to the harbor, and get the fish for tonight's dinner," Suki suggested cheerfully.

Sokka sighed, but started to walk toward the harbor. "C'mon Zuko. It's better to just do what she says."

Shrugging, I followed after Sokka, not really caring where we were going. It wasn't like I had anything else to do. "So where is everyone else?" I asked. "Toph said you guys went for a ride on Appa."

"No that was just Aang, Katara, and Nadee," Sokka replied. "I've been on enough Appa rides for a lifetime."

I nodded in agreement, but didn't say anything else. Sokka and I had been friends long enough to not need to talk. Or at least that was what I though…

"So you and Nadee seem to be pretty friendly?" Sokka nudged me with his elbow, and I just glared.

"Why is everyone bringing this up today?" I asked, finally losing my patience.

"Calm down," Sokka said laughing. "I'm just messing with you. Katara thinks that it's been to long since you've had a girlfriend. She bugged us all into talking to you about Nadee in hopes that you'd maybe man up, and ask her on a date."

"Oh." We had reached the harbor, and I stayed silent while Sokka bartered for the fish. I wasn't exactly sure how comfortable I was with my friends talking about my dating life. It wasn't any of their business about how long it had been since I had a serious relationship. On the other hand, it was nice to have friends that were so concerned with my happiness, and if all they wanted was for my to go on a date with Nadee I wasn't totally opposed. "When is are they coming back?" I asked suddenly, once Sokka was done.

Sokka shrugged. "You can go check the stable. Aang's keeping Appa there." He pointed toward the mountains, and without another word I took off. There was someone I needed to talk too.

"Katara. Is it alright if I talk to you for a second?" I asked. She was the only one left in the stable, getting some hay for Appa's dinner. Aang and Nadee had already left to head back to the house. Considering she was apparently the ring leader of this whole plan of getting me to go out with Nadee, I felt that she would be a good person to talk to before I made a fool of myself.

"Sure Zuko," She was practically beaming, and I suddenly wondered if her advice was worth the I-knew-I-was-right attitude. "What's up?"

"Well, I was wondering if you… umm… did Nadee… say anything about me…today?" I blurted out in a very unsophisticated manner. Embarrassed, I began to kick at the ground, hoping I didn't sound too stupid.

"In fact she did," Katara said, her blue eyes twinkling, "She thinks that you're very sweet. I think she likes you."

"Really?" I was surprised. I was beginning to wonder if this whole thing was something Katara had constructed. "She said that?"

"Would I lie to you?" Katara asked, pretending to be insulted. "Beside, Nadee is such a nice girl. She's so much better than Mai."

I cringed when Katara mentioned my ex-girlfriend. I tried my best not to think about her. Mai was one of the reason I wasn't looking forward to getting back into the dating world. That was a break-up of epic proportions. "Just making sure. I think I'm going to go find Nadee now. I have something to ask her."

"Ask me what?" Nadee walked into the stable, her smile bright. I froze, unsure of what to do. I had been planning on figuring out how I was going to ask Nadee out for dinner on the way back to the house, but the universe wasn't on my side today.

"Uhh… I was wondering if you would like to," I coughed awkwardly, not exactly sure where to look or how to continue. "If you would like to go out for dinner tonight with me?"

**Cliffhanger! Ahhh! I know, I know, I'm a horrible person, but I want the answer to be in Nadee's POV. Maybe if you review I'll hurry up with the next chapter. -wink, wink- That's right, I'm holding the next chapter hostage. Thanks for reading!**


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